Farmers Weekly Review

We are almost there, teetering on the edge … of Meteorological Spring. But wait, there are some activities you can do to speed the gardening season along.

They involved bringing some things in (branches to force into bloom) and taking some things out (water/milk jugs, seeded with almost any kind of seed where you let Mother Nature take care of the sprouting).

For all of the spring flowering shrubs and trees that bloom before June 15^th any year, the blossoms were actually formed in the previous summer. Forcing stems is a great way to get spring blooming indoors about four weeks early. This practice is simple:

You cut stems from any spring blooming shrub after we have had a period of six weeks of cold weather. Cut stems about 12-16” in length (or whatever size will fit your vase) and bring them in. You gently remove any buds that are below the water line, as they will just start to muck up the water and smell. Then put them in a sturdy vase at room temperature with room temperature water, out of direct sunlight.

Within one to four weeks, the branches will sprout forth their blossoms, “thinking” spring temperatures have arrived. Forcing branches is particularly good for shrubs like forsythia, flowering quince, magnolia, mock orange, even crabapple or cherry branches.

Make sure to change the water every few days. Don’t fall for any of those homemade floral life recipes, like putting pennies in the vase or filling it with lemon-lime pop. Just plain water.

If you have pussy willows — regular, giant, pink, or black — you can just cut them once the sateen male catkins (the fuzzy buds) appear. If you want to use them for decoration with the catkins, don’t put them in water and leave them dry. They will last for months in the catkin form.

If you want to make them into a pussy willow wreath, you can use the wire frame from your leftover winter holiday wreath (gardeners are very upcycling types). Cut bunches of pussy willows into 8-inch piles then, using floral wire, make clumps and then wire them to the frame.

But if you want to make more pussy willows, as in additional plants, or additional forsythia, quince, mock orange and more, you just continue to leave the branches in the water, even after the flowers have finished blooming.

Soon, leaves will follow and you will start seeing the vestiges of little hair-like white roots coming from the part of the stem below water. Allow those roots to get fairly hefty, like a good-sized hairball before you pot up or plant the new shrubs you just made in soil.

This is a great way to multiply and share different shrubs with garden friends and neighbors, or create a nice row of a single type in your own landscape. Your forced flower cuttings are your own little nursery.

Another great late-February task I have discussed in length over the last two years is wintersowing. This extremely simple way to start seeds of almost any kind takes away all the hassle of setting up your house to be a makeshift greenhouse, and instead harnesses the power of nature to do most of the work for you.

I cannot emphasize the difference in the root systems and stems between wintersowing versus indoor starting. I am sure you have probably seen the starts of little sprouts, thin and tall and weak that come from starting seeds indoors.

We are re-creating warmer conditions, but not ideal ones. Too often the seedlings started inside have thin, tall stems, and few roots. When you come over to the wintersowing method, you will have the stoutest, superman stems and leaves, with a robust, thick root system.

An additional benefit besides not having to get lights, heat mats, fans, containers, and a large space to do traditional seeding indoors, is that with wintersowing there is no hardening off.

Hardening off is the process that you have to do when you raise seedlings inside. They are raised in overly warm conditions and now have to transition to the cool and sometimes brutal spring weather we can have. And sadly, they are often lost in this transition process.

So, hardening off is the indoor-outdoor dance for a few weeks. First bringing your seedlings out for a couple of hours, then half a day, then a few whole days, depending on the weather, of course.

With wintersowing, it is like those first television infomercials. Do you remember Ron Popeil and his Pocket Fisherman, and other gadgets? His tagline was, “Set it and forget it!” Now, there isn’t really any growing that is truly “set it and forget it,” well, except for weeds.

But wintersowing is as close as it comes. Start with a food-safe gallon jug and cut a large “U” flap on the side opposite the handle. Then cut four, quarter-sized holes in the bottom for drainage. Recycle the cap on top. You must remove the cap for wintersowing to work. You need that hole at the top for Mother Nature to do additional watering, snowing and icing into your mini greenhouse.

Fill the jug halfway up to the bottom of the U opening with potting mix (NOT potting soil, and definitely NOT our heavy clay soil). Water the potting mix until water comes pouring out the bottom. This will probably be the only time you water your container, and making sure it is saturated is essential.

Now take whatever kind of seeds you want to start and sprinkle them on the surface. Plant them only as deep as the seed is thick. Put a label on the inside of the container, water again, then tuck the U into the base and maybe add a dab of tape.

Find a place outside where your jugs will get exposed to the elements. Be sure to secure them because of our wicked Midwest winds. I like to line my jugs up and stick a shovel handle or bungee cord through them.

And then we wait. More next week on what you will do when you start to see seedlings.